Kindness
by laurzz
Summary: DannyLindsayLucy. Just a little festive story for everyone. 'As they emerged through the door, Danny and Lindsay led her over to a little bench in the middle of the mall and they sat down together, letting Lucy sit between them. Danny handed Lucy her present and smiled at her when she looked at him in confusion. "Can I open it now?"


**Hi guys, long time no see. with the festive season I have been insanely busy with work and what not. Discos, christmas parties and arts and crafts have been coming out of my ears! But I wanted to post something a little festive for the season. Hopefully now that I have finished school until January, I'll be able to write something else too. **

**I hope you guys enjoy this. Let me know what you think! :) **

* * *

"Great, just great… exactly what I needed right now." Danny Messer muttered as he threw his wrench and dirty rag back into the mound of other tools.

"Is it broken?" Lindsay inquired as she leant against the wall with her arms folded.

"Looks that way." He scowled as he sat back on his heels. "What are we gonna do?"

"I guess go and buy a new one?" Lindsay shrugged. "Not exactly how I envisioned our day off so close to Christmas though," she frowned. "Picking out a new fridge…"

"It wasn't on my plan either," Danny reminded her. "You better go and get Lucy ready."

"You wanna go right now?" Lindsay blinked.

"Well yeah," Danny nodded as he opened up their freezer. "Otherwise we'll be eatin' good tonight; all this would have to go…"

Lindsay sighed heavily as she turned and headed out of the kitchen to gather up their daughter.

Danny swore under his breath as he moved to the sink to wash his hands. He definitely hadn't planned on buying a new fridge so close to Christmas. It didn't help that the fridge itself held quite a lot of sentimental value to him, regardless of the fact it was a fridge. Aiden had given him the fridge years ago now. They'd had gone to the bodega and bought a crap load of beers after a particularly haunting case and had filled Danny's fridge full of them and had quickly gone through the lot of them. It was way before Lindsay had even been a vision of his dreams… or nightmares if he thought about the mindset of his former self. During the course of their beer night and wallowing in their own self-pity over how much they hated their jobs they had somehow managed to wreck Danny's fridge. To quit his complaining, Aiden had turned up the next day with a pair of sunglasses and her fridge-freezer with the demands that if she gave it to him, he had to stop his bitching. He'd initially told her to get lost and he wasn't taking her fridge, but the more she insisted, the more he relented. He'd learnt quickly that with Aiden Burn you couldn't win. So he'd accepted the fridge. Then, when she was killed merely three years later he realised that what had been a joke and simply a way of pacifying Danny had really been a truly kind a genuine offer. Aiden knew that Danny had been struggling with money from setting his own place up, whereas she was still living in the same apartment she had lived in for years. She didn't need to find rent and a deposit and all that crap that Danny had… so when she had died it wasn't just a fridge.

The fridge had followed him in the recent years when he had moved apartments; when he had a big overhaul in his life when he was trying to win Lindsay back… he'd gotten rid of a lot of stuff, deciding that a new start was in order. But the fridge was always there; a constant reminder of Aiden. Then, when he and Lindsay had joined together as one, they had decided between them that they'd use the majority of Lindsay's things as when she had moved from Montana she'd gradually built up an apartment's worth of things; so naturally her things were newer than his… except from the fridge. The fridge had followed them to their three different apartments that they had called home throughout the duration of their married life.

But now, the fridge was no more.

It had been a little shaky the past few weeks, making sounds it hadn't made before, but Danny had put that down to it just needing a bit of TLC. But after the TLC didn't do anything, Danny figured the problem lay a little deeper. Upon closer inspection he realised that the temperature within the fridge wasn't anywhere near as cold as it should be, and that was when he knew he had lost the last little bit of Aiden that he had.

Shutting the tap off, he reached for a paper towel and heard the gentle padding of his little girl.

"We goin' to pick a new fridge?" she asked, announcing her presence in her little New York accent. With her going to school now, she was developing little accents from her new friends. He found it adorable… Lindsay, not so much. She'd tried really hard to keep Lucy's accent neutral, like her's; even though Danny thought that even Lindsay had a little New York in her now.

"Yeah," Danny nodded in reply as he tossed the paper towel in the trash. "This one broke."

"'Kay." Lucy shrugged as she turned on her heel and headed out of the kitchen. He couldn't help but laugh at her nonchalance. What had consumed his thoughts for fifteen minutes had completely left her unbothered and uninterested.

But then again, it was just a fridge, wasn't it?

* * *

"What about this one?" Lindsay asked, pointing towards a bigger fridge. "This could work, right?"

Shaking his head silently, Danny continued walking. He knew that Lindsay wanted a fancy fridge-freezer with an ice and water dispenser but he just couldn't deal with that right now. He wanted to make sure that he was going to find a fridge that would last them as long as their last one had without costing him an arm, leg and Lucy.

"I'm bored," Lucy sighed as she opened a fridge and looked inside. "These smell funny, Mommy."

"Quit opening them then," Lindsay tried to hide her smile.

"You're opening them," Lucy pointed out.

"Because I need to see how much room there is inside." Lindsay explained. "Plus I'm not taking a big old sniff when I open them…"

Lucy rolled her eyes as she skipped down the makeshift hallway between the two rows of fridges, opening each one as she passed it before closing it again. "They all smell. Will they smell when we buy one?"

"No, they just take the smell right out," Danny quipped over his shoulder as he glanced up and down at an oversized fridge freezer. He took out his measurements and frowned. "Too big."

"That's too big?" Lindsay exclaimed. "It looks kind of small..."

"Yeah, it won't fit where we need it to go." He explained. "We'd be better getting something like this," he gestured to a silver, double sided fridge-freezer.

Lucy ran ahead and pulled open the fridge and scowled at the inside before slamming it shut again. "It stinks!"

"Stop opening them then!" Both Danny and Lindsay implored together. Lucy huffed as she let go of the handle of the fridge she had been about to open and skipped ahead of them. Lindsay sighed before looping her arm through Danny's and laid her head on his shoulder for a moment. "You really didn't want to do this, did you?"

"Not really," he admitted. "I had better plans for today."

"Well, we can still do all of that." She smiled softly at him. She stopped him and ran her thumb over his cheek as she softened his frowned lines. "Just because Aiden gave you the fridge and now the fridge is broken doesn't mean that you don't have anything left of her, Danny."

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to." Lindsay smiled. "Your face said everything I needed to know."

"I'm just bein' silly. Like you said, it's only a fridge."

"I think it's the memories behind it though," Lindsay reasoned, "Plus we both know you were always a lot closer with her. This is bound to affect you."

"Don't let Flack hear you say that."

"He knows it's true." Lindsay smiled. "Plus he's scared of me so…"

"I just… I don't know," he sighed as he took her hand and squeezed it softly. "She gave it to me when she was so full of life."

"Wasn't she massively hungover and had to run into your apartment to throw up half way through her giving it to you?"

"Okay so she wasn't full of life in that sense," he smirked. "But she was happy and healthy. Then just a few years later I'm stood at her funeral after solving her murder. It doesn't make sense. This was something that she touched and used. She put things in there, you know? Things like that was always nice to think about; like the fact that she'd been there before."

"I know," Lindsay frowned.

"It's just hard to remember her sometimes." Danny admitted quietly as he opened another fridge and had a look at the storage area. Lindsay turned her head to make sure Lucy was okay and couldn't help but laugh as she watched her daughter take a big sniff of another 'stinky' refrigerator.

"I just don't want to forget her and I feel like sometimes I do. The fridge was always a dead cert that I couldn't forget her. I mean every time I got something out of there, in the back of my mind, I thought about her."

"That's okay to feel like that," Lindsay said softly. "But Danny, you're never going to forget about her. You might not think about her as often but that's okay. I'm sure she would understand."

"You didn't know her," he quipped.

"You're right, I didn't… but I wish I had."

Danny frowned and pressed a kiss to her temple. "I'm sorry babe; I didn't mean it like that."

"I know," she assured him. "It's just everyone loved her and it would have been nice to have known her… to have those same memories as you have of her."

"Well, you know, everything happens for a reason. If she hadn't done what she did I would have never met you. And even though I love her and miss her, I wouldn't change a moment of history because that might mean I wouldn't have you, and I dread to think what that's like."

"Life would definitely be dull," she smirked as she pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose. As the caught up with Lucy she was stood by a fridge and tipped her head to one side. Danny too tipped his head as he assessed the height. It seemed liked it would fit in their allocated space… and Lindsay smiled at the sight of the water and ice dispenser.

"Have you sniffed tested it, Lucy?" Danny nudged his daughter playfully.

"Yeah, it doesn't stink too bad." She admitted. "I like it."

"I think I like it too." Danny nodded as he read the specifications and decided that it looked promising. "What do you think, Linds?"

"I'm happy, it's got the water and ice dispenser. It could be a winner."

"Okay, let me go get someone. What's the model name, Linds?"

Danny turned and began walking away from his wife to find someone to help them with their order; he furrowed his brow in confusion when he didn't hear a reply. "Babe?"

"Yeah?" she asked, clearing her throat.

"What's the model name?"

"Aiden." She said quietly.

"No, what's the model name?" he asked, turning around and heading back towards her.

"That's the model name," she said quietly. "Aiden."

Danny looked at her for a minute before a small smile crept across his lips. He turned on his heel and smiled as he headed away from his wife and daughter, "Never too far away, are ya?" he thought to himself.

* * *

With the perfect fridge-freezer on order, ready to be picked up in an hour, The Messers' decided on wandering aimlessly around the busy shopping mall that they had driven to in search of the new fridge. Christmas shoppers filled the areas all around them, armed with bags and other packages that would knock Lucy out given half the chance. Both Danny and Lindsay had cleverly sandwiched Lucy in-between the two of them and both had a tight hold of her hand as they weaved in and out of the crowded walk way. Christmas music filled the air around them and even the air itself smelled like Christmas.

Danny hadn't really been the biggest fan of Christmas until a few years ago; when Lucy finally started to get excited over everything Christmas. Not to mention that getting the use of 'Santa's watching so you better be good,' from about October onwards never failed to fill him with Christmas joy.

But, the true reason behind Danny's change of heart towards the festive season was Lindsay. The glistening of excitement in her eyes filled him with a love for her that he'd not felt before. She loved everything about the season, the traditions, the weather, the snow, the giving of presents… he wasn't so keen on the snow, but everything else, he'd quickly become accustomed to. He loved the look on Lindsay's face when she received his present on Christmas morning. He always tried really hard to make sure it was something special for her and every year so far, he'd been on the money. He wasn't one for dishing out the romantic gestures often, but when he did, they were grand and well delivered.

He'd grown with Lindsay's influence from an immature bachelor to a loving husband and father and for that he was proud of himself, and thankful to her, because it was the little things, like the twinkle in her eye at Christmas time that made him realise how lucky he was.

"Say Lucy," Lindsay asked as she nodded ahead for the benefit of Danny. "I don't know... Have we seen Santa this year yet?"

"No." Lucy shook her head.

"Hmm," Lindsay pursed her lips together. "Well, I might be wrong but I think… think that he just might be here."

"What?" Lucy stopped in her tracks abruptly. "Here? Now?"

"I think so," Lindsay nodded. "Shall we go and see?"

Lucy turned to Danny for confirmation and he nodded convincingly. "If Mommy thinks he's here, then she must be right. Come to think of it, he did mention it last night to me on the phone."

"You talked to him?"

"I talk to him every night," Danny nodded as he squeezed Lucy's hand playfully. "He's always checkin' up on his favourite little girl."

"I'm his favourite?" Lucy exclaimed.

"Well duh," Danny rolled his eyes. "Why wouldn't you be?"

"Can we go see him?"

"Why not," Lindsay shrugged as she led the way towards the Santa Claus' grotto she'd seen a hundred yards away from where they had been standing.

As they joined the line, Danny could see the excitement filtering from Lindsay into Lucy as Lucy bounced up and down on her tiny little converse sneakers. Looking down, he marvelled at how much she had grown since the first time he and Lindsay had taken her to see Santa. She'd been barely seven months old the first time, and while she was quite the character with her parents, she'd stared at the stranger in a red suit and was horrified at the image. The year when she was two had been a little better… but she was still clinging to Lindsay for dear life in case the man in the red suit tried anything. By the time she was three she was getting better with the idea of Santa. She knew it was something she was supposed to be excited about, but wasn't sure what to expect, or why she was excited. When she was four, she could remember being excited the year before and that she'd got a lot of toys, but she hadn't really remembered the day… but now, at five years old, Lucy was ready and raring for her first proper Christmas where she knew what was going on, what she could expect and she knew exactly what she had to be excited about. Christmas was finally being appreciated by each and every Messer, big and small.

Somehow they had managed to get to the front of the line and Lucy stood patiently, rocking back and forth on her feet as she waited for Santa's elf to call her into the grotto.

Lindsay had snuck off a few minutes before to add Lucy's name to the list that would be passed on to the grandfather looking man, dressed in the traditional red suit. Lucy spotted the people who had been in front of them leaving the grotto from the other side and she squeezed Lindsay's hand in excitement, announcing that it was them.

"Lucy, Santa's ready for you."

"He knows I'm here!" Lucy cried excitedly.

"Of course he knows," Danny rolled his eyes as he shuffled in after his wife and daughter. Before he could say another word, Lucy had shot off onto Santa's lap and was curiously looking at his beard, glasses and little button nose.

"Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas Lucy."

Lucy blinked with wide eyes.

"I hear you're five now." He said with a merry little voice. "Aren't you getting big?"

Lucy nodded politely as Lindsay snapped a picture or two on her iPhone for her Dad and Mac.

"Rudolph wanted me to tell you that he was really pleased you left out that snack last year."

"Mommy said carrots were better than brownies. Daddy wanted to leave brownies… but mommy said that reindeers and especially Rudolph prefer healthy things."

"Definitely," Santa Claus nodded. "With all the boys and girls leaving him treats, he needs to make sure he has a nice mix of everything."

"That's what Mommy says!"

"Well, Mommy is right." Santa smiled. "So, I got your list," he smiled. "Are you excited for Christmas?"

"Oh yes!" Lucy cried. "Have the elves wrapped my bear yet?"

"They're just finishing off all the touches on your bear. Which bear was it that you wanted again?"

"The one from build a bear," Lucy explained. "The pink one with glittery bits on it's fur."

"Oh, that's right," Santa Claus nodded. "I remember now. Sarah just finished that yesterday. She was really pleased with it. She took so long and put lots of love and care into making him. I'm sure you will just love him."

"Oh Santa," Lucy squealed. "An elf named Sarah made him?"

"Sarah," Santa Claus nodded. "She's my best elf," Santa whispered. "So, what have you been doing then Lucy?" he asked.

"We went to look for fridges," she began, as if she was talking to an old friend. "Ours has broken."

"You weren't opening them all were you?" Santa Claus looked pointedly at the little girl.

Lucy's eyes widened. She gulped and nodded. "I opened a few."

Santa Claus smiled "I thought you might have… I'm sure your Mommy and Daddy told you not to..."

"They were opening them too," Lucy frowned.

Santa Claus smiled, "I suppose you needed to check there was a place for your juice boxes though, right?"

Lucy smiled brightly. "They stink."

The older gentleman laughed, "They're not pleasant, no. Did you pick one in the end?"

"Yeah," Lucy nodded, "Yeah, Daddy wanted a new one."

"So it's like an early Christmas present for Daddy then," Santa smiled. "Now, I know it isn't quite Christmas yet," he began. "But I'm sure I bought something from my sleigh for you… let me see, can you see… ahh, there it is," he said, making sure Lucy stayed on his lap as he reached down and grabbed the small gift. "Now, this wasn't on your list, but I thought you might like it all the same."

"Oh Santa, thank you!" Lucy squealed. "Daddy, look! Santa gave me an early present!"

"Wow, aren't you lucky?" he smiled at his daughter.

"Mommy look!" Lucy squeaked as she waved the present at Lindsay. "Look!"

"Wow, well, how about you say goodbye and thank you to Santa and we'll go and open it."

"Okay! Thanks Santa, bye. Say hi to Rudolph."

"I will, Lucy. Thanks for coming to see me. Don't remember to go to bed really early on Christmas Eve so I can come and deliver all of your presents, okay?"

"Okay. I'm going to leave cookies this year, is that okay?"

"Which kind?" He asked with a smile as Danny lifted Lucy from the older gentleman's knee.

"Sugar cookies." She pursed her lips together. "Is that okay?"

"They're my favourite!" he exclaimed excitedly. "That's just fine, Lucy."

"Yay!" she exclaimed. "Merry Christmas." She said politely.

"Ho, ho, ho Merry Christmas, Lucy. Be a good girl, okay?"

"I will!" Lucy smiled before she wrapped her hand around Danny's as she handed him the present so that she could grab Lindsay's hand too.

As they emerged through the door, Danny and Lindsay led her over to a little bench in the middle of the mall and they sat down together, letting Lucy sit between them. Danny handed Lucy her present and smiled at her when she looked at him in confusion. "Can I open it now?"

"Sure," Danny nodded. "Santa wouldn't have given it to you now if he didn't want you to open it."

"Really?" Lucy squealed as she looked at Lindsay for confirmation.

"Go ahead," she smiled. Without a second's delay, Lucy was ripping into the red and gold Christmas paper and exclaimed excitedly as she held up her gift. "It's a bubble set."

"Oh wow, I wonder how Santa knew you liked bubbles so much?" Danny implored.

"Well Daddy," Lindsay bit her lip at the tint of sarcasm she could hear in Danny's voice, masked by enthusiasm. "Santa Claus knows everything."

"Yeah, grade A stalker, that one." He mused under his breath with a grin directed towards Lindsay. "So, what do you say about goin' to pick up this fridge and going home?"

"Good plan, Daddy." Lucy squeaked as she looked up from where she had been unscrewing her bubbles and began blowing through the little hole on the stick.

"I'm glad you think so." He smirked playfully as he stood up and offered his hand to Lindsay as he hauled her up. "What do you say, baby? Head on home?"

"Why not?" she smiled as she stood up on her tiptoes and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. "You happy with the fridge?" she questioned as he wrapped his arm over her shoulder and tucked her into his side as he took Lucy's hand, much to her annoyance.

"Yeah, I think so," he nodded. "I mean-"

"Daddy," Lucy interrupted, annoyed. "I can't blow bubbles like this."

"Oh dear," he mused, before turning his attention back to Lindsay. "I mean I don't think it would be more perfect if we tried, you know?"

"Positive?" she asked, her eyes glancing down to Lucy who was still struggling in getting the stick out from the bottle with just one free hand. "She's going to get that all over you."

"She won't," Danny assured Lindsay. "And yeah, I'm pretty positive. Plus, it doesn't hurt that it does the whole water dispenser. I know how you wanted that."

"Yeah," Lindsay nodded as she watched, in slow motion, as the bubbles from Lucy's bottle finally spilled over and landed directly on Danny's foot. Lucy stopped still and watched with wide eyes as Danny took a step forward and cringed as he heard and felt the squelch of the soapy water.

"Luuucy!" He scowled.

"Sorry!" she squeaked. "I didn't mean to!"

"Told you so," Lindsay finally sang. "Did you listen, no…"

"Alright," he scowled as he took the bubbles from Lucy and screwed the cap on. "That's enough of them. I'll be sending them back with Santa I think."

"But Daddy…." Lucy's lower lip trembled.

"Santa's watchin'… just because he's in his grotto, doesn't mean he can't hear, Lucy." Danny reminded her. "No whinin'."

Lucy stomped her foot and moved from walking next to Danny so that she was now on the other side of Lindsay. She took her mother's hand in protest and shot a look of annoyance in Danny's direction.

"Ooooh, you're in trouble," Lindsay sing-songed in Danny's ear as she squeezed Lucy's hand. "You got replaced big time then."

"I'll survive." He shrugged as they re-entered Sears to retrieve their fridge-freezer that was now hopefully ready for collection.

"You know, there was a time that you would have crumbled and died at the thought of her doing that."

"Well, you learn to pick your battles." He smirked as he pulled out the receipt from his pocket. "And if Lucy wants to be a little mini Grinch then that's just fine; she can."

"Fine." She scoffed quietly, "I will." She huffed before standing still in her tracks. "Mommy!" She exclaimed.

"What's wrong?" Lindsay asked, stopping with Lucy and looking at her with worry on her face.

"Mommy, Santa didn't say anything about what you wanted for Christmas." Lucy pointed out.

"That's okay," Lindsay shrugged as Lucy began walking again.

"What?! No it isn't okay!" Lucy protested. "Daddy got a fridge, I got bubbles but you didn't get anything Mommy. What do you want? Daddy and me will go buy it. Whatever you want, right Daddy?"

"Whatever Mommy wants," Daddy nodded.

"I don't want anything," Lindsay smiled at her two favourite people. "Santa didn't bother asking me what I wanted because he knew that I have exactly what I wanted. I was lucky and got it five years ago, so Santa knows to worry about other people before he worries about me."

"I'm five!" Lucy squealed.

"That's right," Lindsay nodded. "And I believe I married Daddy five years ago too. I have the both of you and I don't need anything at all so long as I have you guys. You make me happier than anything you could try to buy for me."

"I bet she'd be singin' a different tune if Channing Tatum was for sale," Danny muttered under his breath, directing a wink towards Lindsay's direction.

"So you don't want Santa to bring you anything. Nothing at all?"

"Nope," Lindsay smiled softly at her daughter as Danny went to get their fridge so that they could head home. "All I need is the two of you."

Lucy smiled brightly and squeezed her mother's hand softly. "I love you, Mommy."

"I love you too sweetheart," Lindsay smiled.

It hadn't been exactly how Lindsay envisioned her day off before Christmas with Danny and Lucy, but now that she had been able to spend some quality time with them, picking a refrigerator and visiting Santa Claus, she realised that it didn't really matter what they spent their time doing; so long as they spent their time together.

* * *

**Hope you guys like this. any thoughts and comments are muchly appreciated. i'm sure I will post something in the next few days, but if I don't, I hope you all have a very, merry christmas! :**)


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